Ecclesial Futures 2025 – Volume 6 – Issue 2 90 Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23037 a r t I c l E DOI: 10.54195/ef23037 The Indigenous Provenance of Missio Spiritus and the Expansion of African Pentecostalism Mookgo Solomon Kgatle abstract Missio spiritus has been theorized and conceptualized as part of the broader mission of the triune God but not emphasized as an indigenous force within the context of African Pentecostalism. This article aims to accentuate the indigenous provenance of missio spiritus in the growth of African Pentecostalism. This is achieved by highlighting the indigenous provenance, defined as accounting for Indigenous people, their culture and communities when studying the work of the Holy Spirit, in each aspect of missio spiritus such as the Spirit of witness, the Spirit of redemption, the Spirit of life, and the Spirit of creation. The accentuation of the indigenous provenance of missio spiritus contributes toward the broader understanding of the expansion of African Pentecostalism. Keywords: Indigenous provenance, Missio spiritus, Holy Spirit, Pentecostalism, Indigenous knowledge system, World Christianity, Pentecostal missiology, Creation 1. Introduction Pentecostalism is the movement that emphasizes the direct relationship with God through the work of the Holy Spirit. Hence, Pentecostals across the world believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit with other pneumatic experiences such as speaking in tongues, prophecy and healing. The theology of the Holy Spirit has become the main hallmark of the Pentecostal movement. It is for the same reasons that Pente- costals in Africa and elsewhere in the world are known as people of the Spirit. The Pentecostal movement continues to grow in the African continent with Pentecostal churches in their different strands planted in most African cities, towns and villages. It is no longer a debate that Pentecostalism is one of the fastest-growing Christian traditions in the world Christianity with a great shift of this growth from the global North to the global South, particularly in the last quarter of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first (Bediako 1995; Anderson 2013; Kalu 2013). The African continent is playing a major role in this shift within the context of missions 91 Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23037 91 and world Christianity. Recent statistics put African Pentecostalism at more than 200 million believers and followers which is more than 10% of the 1.4 billion popula- tion in the continent (Wariboko 2017). Predictions indicate that these numbers will continue to increase given the rapid growth of the Pentecostal movement in the twenty-first century in Africa. All these developments require a proper inquisition into the rationale behind the growth of African Pentecostalism. What could be the reasons behind this rapid growth of the Pentecostal movement in Africa? How do we reflect on these dynamics as missiologists within African Christianity or even world Christianity? This is a valid research question that I seek to answer in this article. In a quest to understand the rationale behind this growth, this article explores the significant role of the Spirit in African Pentecostalism through the missio spiritus as a theoretical framework. The main contribution is the emphasis on the Indige- nous forms of missio spiritus as a driving force behind the growth of African Pente- costalism. The article is divided into five main sections. In the first section, I seek to introduce Pentecostalism as the mission of the Spirit since its early inception. The second section is a discussion on missio spiritus as a theoretical framework including its different aspects such as the witness of the Spirit, the redemptive Spirit, the Spirit of life, and the Spirit of creation. In this section, I will demonstrate the research gaps in these aspects, particularly the Indigenous provenance of the missio spiritus. In the third section, I define the term indigenous provenance in the context the Pentecostal movement in Africa, to account for indigenous people, their culture and communities in studying the work of the Holy Spirit and point to its connection to missio spiritus. The same is used to formulate the framework of the indigenous province of missio spir- itus. In the fourth section, the significant role of the indigenous provenance of missio spiritus in the growth of the Pentecostal movement in Africa will be highlighted. The last section explains how this role changes how Pentecostal missiologists understand missions and world Christianity. The section also seeks to highlight how the accentua- tion of the indigenous provenance of missio spiritus contributes to the broader under- standing of the growth of African Pentecostalism in the present and for the future as well. The next section introduces Pentecostalism as the mission of the Spirit. 2. Pentecostalism as the mission of the Spirit The Pentecostal movement is known as the mission of the Spirit. The theology of the Spirit has been at the centre of the Pentecostal movement since its inception (Yong 2005). In addition, the theology of the Spirit is the fundamental teaching in the Pente- costal movement. The same theology of the Spirit plays a role in the Pentecostal mission in Africa and elsewhere in the world. Both the biblical and the contempo- rary accounts of the Pentecostal movement are characterized by the works of the Spirit. In the biblical account, the Lukan-Acts Pentecost narrative demonstrates the 92 Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23037 92 role of the Spirit in mission and its expansion from one region to the other (Menzies 1989). However, within African Pentecostalism, there is a need to emphasize this role, particularly its indigenous provenance. Acts 1.8 and Acts 2.1–4 show that the begin- ning of the Pentecostal mission was activated by the Holy Spirit when believers were baptized and empowered by the same Spirit. The focus here is not just on speaking in tongues but on the power to witness to others. This baptism and empowerment of the Spirit gave the believers the ability to be witnesses in their locality and to other regions of the world. Hence, the early church of the Apostles grew to many thousands of believers because the empowerment of the Holy Spirit made it possible for the expansion of the mission work. As believers of the early church were filled with the Holy Spirit, they saw a need to minister the word to others and reach out to many people. Therefore, the Holy Spirit in the early church became the driving force for the expansion of the mission. This expansion was mainly because the Apostles of the early church were able to minister relevantly to the different contexts through the work of the Spirit. In other words, they were able to apply the mission of the Spirit in the local contexts. I will later demonstrate that the same work of the Holy Spirit empowers believers in Africa for the expansion of the Pentecostal movement on the continent. In the contemporary Pentecostal movement, particularly looking at the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles, United States of America, the revival was character- ized by pneumatic experiences such as Spirit baptism, speaking in tongues and other miraculous manifestations (Hollenweger & MacRobert 1988; Menzies & Menzies 2000; Althouse 2003). The manifestations of the Spirit at Azusa Street resulted in thousands of new Christians worldwide between 1906 and 1916 (Hayford & Moore 2006). The Azusa Street revival followed the same path of the biblical Pentecost narrative that was characterzsed by pneumatic experiences that expanded the Pentecostal mission (Robeck 2017). These attracted people from all regions of the world to camp at Azusa to experience the revival that grew to become one of the most important and influ- ential revivals in the history of the Pentecostal movement (Anderson 2006). However, with the expansion of this revival, I would still contend that it relied upon the ability of Pentecostals from around the world to apply the mission of the Spirit in their local contexts. Similarly the ability of African Pentecostals to reach out to people in the local context because of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit needs to be emphasized. In the South African context, the Pentecostal movement has connections with the Azusa Street revival in two ways. First, its pioneer, John G. Lake had been part of the Azusa Street revival through his meeting with William Seymour (Anderson 2006: 107). John G. Lake arrived in South Africa together with Thomas Hezmalhalch after having experienced the Spirit baptism from Azusa Street revival. The role of the Spirit was applied relevantly to the South African context and churches like the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa with more than 1 million members continue to grow in the twenty-first century. Second, the same experiences that happened in 93 Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23037 93 the Azusa Street revival also happened in South Africa with the likes of John G. Lake at the forefront of these experiences. This means that the same pneumatic expe- riences that occurred in the Azusa Street revival also happened in the Bree Street revival in Johannesburg, South Africa (Kgatle 2016). Many people could move from different provinces in South Africa to gather at Bree Street Revival for healing, and other pneumatic experiences. From Bree Street, the Pentecostal movement began to spread to other cities in South Africa attracting many followers and planting many churches. Moreover, many other Pentecostal churches were started by African pioneers in many provinces of South Africa. But the role of the Holy Spirit has indig- enous elements in every context where Pentecostalism finds itself. These elements need to be highlighted in the context of missions and world Christianity. In the next section, I discuss the missio spiritus as the relevant framework in demonstrating the role of the Holy Spirit in the expansion of African Pentecostalism. But in doing so, I will also demonstrate the gaps in the indigenous elements of this framework. 3. Framing a missio spiritus approach in the context of Pentecostalism Missio spiritus, which means the mission of the Spirit, is a relevant framework for this article in investigating the role of the Spirit in the growth of African Pentecostalism. Thinane (2021:4) says that “Missio Spiritus can be described as a Latin theological expression referring to the total participation of God the Spirit in the fulfilment of the purpose of Missio Dei.” However, I would argue that such participation depends solely on the application of the missio spiritus in a specific local context, thus recognizing the indigenous provenance of the same. The mission of the Spirit refers to the work done by the Spirit within the different roles in the trinitarian mission. In other words, as much as there is the mission of God and the mission of Christ, there is also the mission of the Spirit. All these missions are important in the mission of the church in the twwenty-first century. Bosch (1991) also referred to the role of the Holy Spirit in mission. Other scholars such as McQuilkin (1997) walked in his footsteps in demon- strating the role of the Holy Spirit in mission. However, they have not demonstrated the indigenous provenance of this role particularly in the expansion of African Pente- costalism. By indigenous provenance I refer to taking cognizance of the indigenous or even native people, their culture and indigenous communities when studying the work of the Holy Spirit (Weaver 2001; Coates & Coates 2004; Sissons 2005). Wonsuk Ma (2017) and Julie Ma (2015) have also published extensively on the role of the Holy Spirit in mission particularly in the Pentecostal movement. However, I would still contend that a gap exists in demonstrating how this role functions in the expan- sion of African Pentecostalism. In other words, how can the missio spiritus be under- stood in terms of its Indigenous provenance in the expansion of Pentecostalism is a research area that deserves exploration in missions and world Christianity? 94 Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23037 94 Allan Anderson (2005) does not call this a missio spiritus but uses the concept of a pneumatocentric mission as part of the aspects of the Pentecostal mission. By a pneumatocentric mission, Anderson refers to conducting a mission as having been directed or sent by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit plays an important role in instructing the people engaged in missions through dreams or visions. It is only after receiving such an instruction that a Pentecostal missionary will begin to conduct the mission. This element according to Anderson is what differentiates the mission of the Spirit from other missions. The mission of the Spirit is very much focused on pneumatology, that is, the work of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that was released on the day of the Pentecost as recorded in Luke-Acts as the “missional Spirit” in the sense that the Spirit activates the believers to begin the work of missions. Elsewhere in his works, Anderson (1991) cf Anderson (2018) has emphasized the role of the Holy Spirit in doing a mission that connects to the mission of the Spirit. In these works, Anderson also pointed out that Africans are people of the Spirit, hence the mission of the Spirit is common among African Pentecostals. Therefore, Anderson comes very close to what I want to achieve in this current study. However, since Anderson did not speak directly about missio spiritus and its link with the expansion of African Pentecostalism, the current study remains worthwhile. Speaking of missio spiritus and its link to Pentecostalism, Yong (2011) theorized missio spiritus in three acts, meaning, the Spirit of creation as the first act, the Spirit of redemption as the second act, and the Spirit of the eschaton as the third act. The research gap remains in working with each act to illustrate its indigenous prove- nance in the expansion of African Pentecostalism. Mæland expanded on these by listing at least four aspects of the missio spiritus, namely the Spirit of creation, the Spirit of life, the Spirit of redemption and the Spirit of witness, pointing out that As to the Spirit of mission, what is highlighted in the document is namely the Spirit in creation, the Creator Spirit, and to a lesser extent the Spiritus of redemption/re-cre- ation and consummation/eschaton. It is the spirit of life, the breath of life, the Ruach Elohim, hovering over the primordial chaos, being the breath of human beings, who are placed center stage. (Maeland 2013: 142) All these four aspects are discussed here within the theoretical framework of a missio spiritus. There might be other aspects of the missio spiritus such as the Spirit of the eschaton as highlighted by Yong but the focus in this article shall be on the four that are highlighted by Mæland. In each aspect of the missio spiritus, I seek to demonstrate the gaps to highlight the value of the indigenous provenance of this framework. First, missio spiritus refers to the Spirit of creation, which means that the mission involves not only human beings but also the creation and its creatures (Yong 2019). 95 Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23037 95 In the creation narrative in Genesis, there is already evidence of the Spirit hovering upon the face of the waters. This demonstrates that the Spirit was always involved in the creation and environmental experience from the beginning (Yong 2015). This aspect of the Spirit of creation reminds us that God himself is not only the God of heaven but also the God of nature and the environment. Padilla (2016) explains that this is one aspect of the mission and world of Christianity that we cannot ignore, that is, the role of the Holy Spirit in giving power to life and the environment. Therefore, a call to embrace the Spirit of creation is a call to embrace care for God’s creation and people. The Pentecost narrative gives evidence of the Spirit taking part in the affairs of the people and also how people began to relate with one another after receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God is calling all creation to himself for the redemption and restoration of all. Even in this aspect, it is still very important to demonstrate the Indigenous value of the Spirit of creation and the elements of indigenous knowledge in the missio spiritus help us understand the Spirit of creation. Many African Pentecostal churches have begun a journey of not only evangelizing to non-believers but also taking part in the development of their nations, as in the building of schools, universities and clinics in countries like Nigeria and Ghana, which I suggest is the reason for the expansion of the Pentecostal move- ment in the continent. The second aspect of missio spiritus is the Spirit of life whereby the Holy Spirit is defined as the one who gives life to the believer. Right from Genesis, it was the Spirit that gave life to the human being when the same was just the dust of the earth. God breathed into the human and the human became a living soul. The Pentecost narra- tive also demonstrates that the Spirit’s baptism brings life into the believer through the Holy Spirit. According to Kaunda (2017), the mission of the Spirit is a relevant approach to the transformation of lives. God sent his son Jesus Christ into the world for the transformation of the lives of the people. Similarly, God sends his Spirit into the believer so that they might receive life and transformation. In John 6.63 Jesus told his disciples “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” This means that when the Spirit of God is upon the life of the disciple, they can receive life and transformation as opposed to life in the flesh (Gal. 5). The contribution I seek to make in this current study is the role of the Spirit of life in transforming lives in different contexts. Life transforma- tion as emanating from the Spirit of life cannot be generalized but rather applied to a specific context. By life transformation here one refers to the changes that can be seen in the life of the believer through the same Spirit empowerment. In addi- tion, the Spirit of life refers to how believers through the Holy Spirit play a role in socio-economic issues and socio-political issues. Thus, in framing the missio spiritus, there is a great need to contextualize the transformation of believers in missions and world Christianity. Again, this is the strength of the Pentecostal movement in Africa 96 Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23037 96 where spiritual service including the songs and sermons are meant to bring trans- formation to both believers and unbelievers in attendance, thus, contributing to the growth of Pentecostalism. The third aspect of the missio spiritus is the Spirit of redemption, which means that the Holy Spirit plays a major role in the redemption of the people of the world. The Spirit has a role to play in the salvation of the lost people in the world. Redemption is not only defined as the work of Christ but also as the work of the Holy Spirit. As much as it is Christ who died on the cross of Calvary, the Holy Spirit has a role to play in the fulfilment of the same redemption. In addition, the Holy Spirit plays an important role in redemption because as much as the Spirit of God hovered upon the waters, humanity lost that connection with God with the fall of humanity. Yong (2011: 358) showed how the redemption of humanity does not only involve the salvation of the soul but the connection with God through the work of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, the Spirit plays an important role in the reconciliation between humanity and their God as much as the mission of Christ does. Similarly, the Pentecost narrative should be understood in the same way as an event that happened in the quest to connect humanity back to God through the work of the Holy Spirit. Jennings (2017) discusses the same point of how the Holy Spirit forms intimacy or communion between God and humanity and amongst humanity. However, there is a need to expand knowl- edge in understanding the role of the Spirit of redemption in helping people in different contexts. This expansion includes exploring how the Spirit of redemption functions not only for the salvation of the soul but also in healing and deliverance in the African context. This is similar to Green’s (2014) holistic salvation which includes biblical liberative paradigms. For me, this is the indigenous provenance of the Spirit of redemption within the framework of missio spiritus. In other words, African Pente- costals do not define redemption as a process of being free from sin alone. Rather, redemption brings healing and deliverance, becoming very practical in the daily chal- lenges that Africans face in their lives. The last aspect of missio spiritus is the Spirit of witness, also known as the Spirit of evangelization, which means that the Holy Spirit plays a role in witnessing or evan- gelizing those who need the gospel. Although Lesslie Newbigin (1995) demonstrated how the Holy Spirit takes part in the mission activity of announcing the good news to the people about the work that Christ has done on the cross of Calvary, he does not demonstrate how that is achieved in local contexts. In Acts 1.8, the purpose of the power that believers receive from the Holy Spirit is for the believers to become witnesses. In addition, in becoming witnesses to others, believers need the inspira- tion of the Holy Spirit. Believers are involved in the praxis of evangelisation through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is possible when the Holy Spirit works relevantly in the specific local context in which the gospel is witnessed. In Acts 10.38, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and … he went around 97 Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23037 97 doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil because God was with him.” This means that even the work of evangelization that Christ did was also possible because the Holy Spirit was upon him. It follows that whenever the Holy Spirit is upon the believers, they can do the work of mission. But even here the work of the Spirit of witness is relevant to the situational needs of the people that Jesus ministered to and healed. It is important to point out that in African Pentecostalism, the Spirit-empowered and the anointed does not refer only to the clergy. Anyone who is filled with the Holy Spirit can become a witness, including women and chil- dren. This contributes toward the expansion of African Pentecostalism, turning any believer into a witness because of spirit empowerment. 4. Indigenous provenance of missio spiritus African Pentecostalism has deep foundational roots in the African Christian expe- rience. This is seen in the ability of African Pentecostalism to incorporate African cultural practices into their African Christian experience (Kalu 2008). In its practices, Pentecostalism does not always borrow from the Western forms of Christianity but from the African cultural heritage (Meyer 2004). Bediako (1995) spoke of Pentecos- tals in Africa who do not even know about the Azusa Street revival but embrace the fundamental teachings of Pentecostalism such as Spirit baptism. Asamoah-Gyadu (2002) explained that this indigenous provenance is what made African Pentecos- talism able to bring transformation in people’s lives. Anderson (2011) adds that this is possible through the working of the Holy Spirit among believers in African Pente- costalism. Therefore, in Africa, the presence and power of the Holy Spirit are what bring transformation in the lives of the people (Asamoah-Gyadu 2014). In addition, African Pentecostalism can familiarise itself with the local context in which it finds itself. Therefore, African Pentecostalism has been able to express itself relevantly in many African local contexts as opposed to Western forms of Christianity. Anderson and Tang (2005: 588) point out that “one of the main reasons for the phenomenal growth of Pentecostalism in the past century has been its remarkable ability to adapt itself to different cultural contexts and give authentically contextualized expressions to Christianity.” While Western forms of Christianity have failed to acknowledge the indigenous knowledge including cultural practices, African Pentecostalism has been able to acknowledge the same without compromising the Christian message. The indigenous provenance of Pentecostalism is used in this study to formu- late what I call an indigenous provenance of missio spiritus. This framework is developed here to specifically explore the role of the Holy Spirit in the expansion of African Pentecostalism. This means that the four aspects of the missio spiritus as discussed above should be understood in the context of the indigenous force of African Pentecostalism. This opens up a possibility of understanding firstly the 98 Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23037 98 indigenous provenance of missio spiritus is relevant in the understanding of the use of the indigenous knowledge system on creation to propagate the gospel. Secondly, the indigenous provenance of missio spiritus is a framework for the life-giving Spirit whereby, as Asamoah-Gyadu and Anderson pointed out earlier, the lives of African people are transformed and restored through the power of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, the indigenous provenance of missio spiritus affords us an opportunity to the able to understand the Spirit of redemption beyond the confessional salvation to the salva- tion that touches the various aspects of life in African contexts. Lastly, the Spirit of witness informs the presenting of the gospel in forms relevant to the African people. This means that the Spirit of witness in the indigenous provenance of missio spiritus is the Spirit that enables gospel ministers or even missionaries in Africa to minister a contextualized gospel rather than Westernized forms of the gospel. Through the same Holy Spirit, the gospel minister in Africa can express the gospel in an indige- nized way. The next section explains how the indigenous provenance of missio spir- itus is relevant for understanding the expansion of African Pentecostalism. 5. Indigenous provenance of missio spiritus and the growth of African Pentecostalism Most African Pentecostal churches have not yet pronounced on issues related to the creation and the environment. Scholars such as Golo (2014) and Maseno (2017) indi- cate that Pentecostals in Africa have shown little concern for the environmental crisis and issues related to climate change in the twenty-first century. Werner (2020: 51) adds that in ”many African (as well as other) churches the seriousness of the envi- ronmental challenges has not yet received attention.” In the South African context, churches such as the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa, the Full Gospel Church, and Assemblies of God have not yet pronounced on issues related to the creation and the environment. In Western Africa, churches such as the Redeemed Christian Church of God and Church of Pentecost and many others are involved in various projects concerning development but not directly spoken about issues of environmental crisis and global warming. This is surprising since Pentecostals in Africa believe in the Spirit of witness, the Spirit of redemption and the Spirit of life. What about the Spirit of creation? Some of the reasons for lack of engagement in environmental issues could include the influence of early classical Pentecostalism in anthropocentric salva- tion rather than the salvation that includes both humans and non-humans. Another reason could be the influence of classical Pentecostalism focusing more on the immi- nent second coming of Christ and evangelism than taking care of the environment. The Pentecostal movement in Africa can grow further if the issues related to the crea- tion and the role of the Spirit of creation in the same can be taken seriously. In this 99 Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23037 99 way, the Spirit of creation within the framework of indigenous provenance of missio spiritus can also add value to the growth of the Pentecostal churches in Africa. The African Pentecostals are also strong on preaching that the Holy Spirit is the one that gives life to the believer. African Pentecostal preachers emphasize social transformation and development, particularly in presenting the Spirit as life-giving (Freeman 2012). The Holy Spirit is not only introduced as the part of the Trinity and divine but also as the life-giving Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not only the supernatural power of God but also the one who transforms human beings. Transformation here is defined as Spirit empowerment able to change attitudes, behaviours, spiritual and other circumstances. In addition, African Pentecostals preach personal and social development because they believe that Spirit empowerment is able to bring Spirit’s work into one’s financial circumstances. Hence, African Pentecostals emphasise the message of transformation. When the believer is transformed, they can transform the next person in their church or community. Consequently, this transformation moves into the whole society which explains the impact of the African Pentecostal mission. This means that the work of the Holy Spirit translates into the social aspects of the life of the believer. They believe that any Spirit baptised person should see change in their lives after receiving the Holy Spirit. This message of the transforma- tion through the Holy Spirit also plays a role in popularizing the Pentecostal churches in Africa. People believe that once they join such churches, their lives will change for the better because of being Spirit-filled. Therefore, the indigenous provenance of missio spiritus is relevant in understanding the role of the Spirit of life as being able to transform the lives of Africans in many African contexts. In African Pentecostalism, the church is not only a place for fellowship but also a place of social transformation based on the work of the Holy Spirit. African Pentecostals are also strong on the aspect of redemption which also includes the ministry of healing and deliverance. The evil spirits in African Pentecos- talism are confronted by the same Spirit of redemption (Onyinah 2002). This affords African Pentecostalism the ability to respond to various challenges in life like misfor- tune, barrenness, witchcraft, bad luck, spells and others. They believe that these problems are caused by some spirits in the spirit realm and therefore the Holy Spirit becomes that force that is used to confront the same powers of evil in the spirit realm (Anderson 2018). Hence, Anderson says that the Pentecostal movement in Africa should not only be seen in the continuity of the popular religion but in the confrontation of the same through the Spirit of redemption. Among many African Pentecostals, it is believed that the Spirit of redemption carries divine power to confront sickness, diseases and other problems. Consequently, there is an emphasis on the ministry of healing and deliverance as part of redemption to confront the same problems being caused by evil spirits in the spirit realm. Many Africans do not have medical aid because of the failure of public health care in many African states. 100 Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23037 100 So the Pentecostal churches have become an alternative to the government’s fail- ures. It is for this reason that Pentecostal churches are growing to larger numbers and bigger churches in many African cities. For example in many African countries, rather than queuing at hospitals, they would go to a deliverance minister in pursuit of healing and deliverance. Some do not go because they are sick but believe that the Pentecostal message of healing can keep them healthy or give longevity. African Pentecostals are very strong on expressing the gospel relevantly to the African people as inspired by the Spirit of witness. African Pentecostalism is known for its focus on reaching out to lost souls in every corner of their cities to preach the gospel to those who need it. The main aim of Pentecostal evangelism is to plant churches around and in cities as inspired by the Spirit of witness. One of the classical Pentecostal churches, the Apostolic Faith Mission in South Africa, has adopted this model where they see themselves as existing in every city. Thus, church planting according to Anderson (2005: 37) is “a central feature of all Pentecostal mission activity.” The point I am making here is that this is informed by the indigenous prov- enance of missio spiritus as discussed above. Church and mission among African Pentecostals are not separate entities but exist together because a well-established church should be engaged in the work of mission. Hence, it is the task of these Pente- costal churches to give birth to other churches in other cities in Africa. They no longer depend on Western missionaries for the planting of churches in Africa but have become church planters on their own. Similarly, many other Pentecostal churches in sub-Saharan Africa believe in turning every follower into a witness to the world to minister the gospel in an indigenous way. Therefore, the aspect of preaching to the world is not only for the clergy but for every believer who becomes a witness to the gospel of Christ expressed in the African contexts. This aspect of witnessing to others has caused the Pentecostal mission to grow in Africa. This growth is informed by the way Africans have embraced the mission of the Spirit in reaching out to lost souls. 6. Indigenous provenance of missio spiritus: rethinking missions and World Christianity Indigenous provenance of missio spiritus in the Pentecostal mission changes the way we understand the missions and world of Christianity. Mission should not only be understood in the context of the mission of God and the mission of Christ but also the missio spiritus. Yong (2011: 361) puts it this way: “The Spirit who empowered the Son, and who was poured out upon and filled the apostles, is the same Spirit who continues to accomplish the redemptive work of God in Christ, and through the post-apostolic church.” The mission of the Spirit has a role to play in the fulfilment of the mission of God and the mission of Christ. It is for this reason that the mission of the Spirit should not be ignored in missions and world Christianity. Thinane 101 Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23037 101 (2021: 10) says that the missio spiritus becomes that bridge that helps us understand other missions. It is an approach in which the mission of God, the mission of Christ, the mission of the church, and others can be articulated. However, scholars such as Thinane, Yong and Bosch have not articulated the role of the indigenous provenance of the missio spiritus. My contribution here not only recognizes the mission of Spirit in the missions and world Christianity but also its indigenous contribution. The indige- nous provenance of the mission of Spirit deserves attention in demonstrating its role in the expansion of African Pentecostalism. 7. Conclusion This article explored the role of the Spirit in the expansion of African Pentecostalism using the missio spiritus as a theoretical framework. The various aspects of the missio spiritus such as the Spirit of creation, the Spirit of life, the redemptive Spirit, and the witness of the Spirit, were discussed in the context of African Pentecostalism. However, the indigenous provenance of these aspects has not been explored in previous studies. Therefore, the contribution of this article is the framing of the indig- enous provenance of missio spiritus and its role in the expansion of African Pentecos- talism. Therefore as emanating from an indigenous provenance of missio spiritus, the findings are: that African Pentecostals are strong in ministering life, preaching redemption, and witnessing to other people. However, Pentecostals in Africa have yet to pronounce on issues related to creation. Nonetheless, I argue that the Spirit of life, the Spirit of redemption, and Spirit of witness make African Pentecostalism grow in numbers. Therefore, the indigenous provenance of missio spiritus remains the rationale behind the growth of the Pentecostal movement in Africa. This is important for mission research in understanding missions and world Christianity in the twen- ty-first century. Moreover, this is important in understanding the broader expansion of African Pentecostalism in present and future studies. About the Author Mookgo Solomon Kgatle holds a PhD in Theology and is a Professor of Missiology at the College of Human Sciences, UNISA. He is interested in the history, mission, and theology of African Pentecostalism. He has published several peer-reviewed arti- cles and books in the field. He is the founder and president of the Southern African Society of Pentecostal Studies. He is an NRF-rated scholar and appeared in the 2024 Scopus list of the Top 2% of Scientists worldwide. He received visiting scholarships to the University of Birmingham and Oxford University (2020–23). 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